Being honest with you:

I was sifting thru scores of get rich quick scams and multilevel
marketing pitches looking for some basic instruction on setting
up a small and only vaguely profitable side business on the
internet. Pocket money, that’s all. Since I don’t know much
about marketing or business on the internet it took me a while
of sifting to find some basic info about how to do this and I
wanted to share it with you. I’m not asking for anything, I am
not selling anything. This is just an instructional blog of
sorts.

I’m not rich. I will probably never be rich. If I was I would be
living aboard the QM2 and not sitting in my office writing this
when I should be doing actual work. If you want to get rich you
usually have to have a really good idea and some money to start
off with. I have neither. Is that enough to convey my
transparency?
The basic idea:

Affiliate programs allow you (and this is the simplified
version) to get a link that you dole out to people that allows
you to get credit for referring them. Lets say my friend wants
to buy a guitar and I buy my guitars online at abcmusic.com. I
tell him that he should get his guitar at abcmusic.com but
instead I link him to abcmusic.com?=bhirsch492. Why? When
abcmusic.com see’s that last part, it means I referred someone,
so when my buddy gets a guitar, I get, lets say $5 from
abcmusic.com. This doesn’t cost my friend a dime, and the store
gained a new customer.
How to go step by step:

1) Get a domain name. You have to have a starting point for
people to sign up for things from, and a place to direct
traffic. You can end up using it for a place to post your pics,
blogs, etc. Anything you want to use it for, so already its
purposeful outside of this. There are a ton of sites to buy
domain names from. I own a number of names and have been using
www.1and1.com
for a while. They are competitively priced, no surprises, and
they work. Yeah, its buying stuff, but a domain goes for between
$1 and $6 on average for a one year period. So this isn’t too
hefty an investment, and as I said, you can use it for other
stuff too. Get a name that’s short, simple to spell, and maybe
revolves around your interest or something others may find
interesting.
2) Find an affiliate. Just search, there are
directories of them such as
www.affiliatescout.com. It can be overwhelming and there are
endless options. I can suggest
www.slotland.com
for good returns if you want to promote gambling.
www.hotelscombined.com is a solid one because while payouts
are low, when people see the usefulness they will actually use
it, comparing hotel rates between most of the popular online
travel companies all at once. I actually use this for looking
for hotels myself.
3) Forward your domain name, or content that
you can create and put on a basic website on your domain name to
your affiliate link. It could be as simple as forwarding your
domain www.greatfijihotelvalues.com
to your affiliate link at
www.hotelscombined.com. You can even tell it to go right to
deals in Fiji. If you want to make it more fancy you could set
up a page with great articles written by your friends who just
got back from Fiji, some of their pics, and suggest they go on
www.hotelscombined.com to find a deal on a trip just like
the one your article/blog raved about. The options are endless
as you get more into it.
4) Now, and this is essentially the last step,
you have to get people to that page. This is where your results
are based on your creativity and ingenuity. You can make flyers,
magnets, car stickers. Those are somewhat traditional.
Additionally there are endless articles on search engine
manipulation, payperclick advertising opportunities, etc. Have a
myspace or facebook? Mention on there that you took a vacation
and decided to make it easier to find great rates by using your
own website. Put a banner on your blog that links to your online
gambling affiliate. If it’s not costing consumers money then
they will happily use something that works for them and is a
payout to you.
This is a very basic guide, and I have skipped
lots of details. I encourage you to read more about affiliate
marketing, white-label marketing, payperclick advertising, and
more. This can start basic and get very involved, though only
minimal experience with the internet is necessary. Base your
ideas on things that interest you and it will make it much
easier to want to do more. Again, you’re not gonna get rich, but
if you can set up a way to payout enough to pay a phone bill,
car payment, etc, its way more than you had before.